Chief Ayo Opadokun, former leader
of the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, has given ​ex-Chief Security
Adviser (CSO) to former Head of State, late General Sani Abacha​, ​seven days
to ​retract his comment that he and other Yoruba leaders took bribe from those
who killed Chief MKO Abiola ​o​r face libel suit.

​He also​ questioned the mental
state of Al-Mustapha ​over​ “​resurrection of his old allegations of 2011
​”​, adding that Al-Mustapha ‎​”may​ have been mentally affected by hi​s ​long stay in prison while undergoing trial for the murder of late Alhaja
Kudirat Abiola.”

​Opadokun, who already denied
the allegation, dared Al-Mustapha to produce the tape he said he had to
prove that he and others collected money.

​He told newsmen on Wednesday in
Lagos ‎ ​that he will set the records straight against the attempt by
Al-Mustapha to malign the character of notable and patriotic leaders of NADECO,
some of whom were now late.

​Opadokun insisted that
Al-Mustapha was only trying to ​soil the image of credible Yoruba leaders to
​make himself look clean.​

​His words: ​“I was incarcerated
in Ikoyi prisons for 24 calendar months under late General Sani Abacha for my
political views and leanings, only to be released by General Abdulsalami
Abubakar after Abacha’s death. “Upon my release, my leader and chairman of
NADECO, late Pa Abraham Adesanya informed me that the new administration of
Abdulsalami Abukakar was meeting with various groups across the country on the
way forward and has requested a meeting with the leadership of NADECO, of which
I was chosen to be a member of the team​.​”​”​The members ​were late Pa
Abraham Adesanya, late chief Francis Okpozo, Arthur Nwankwo, Bola Ige and Ayo
Opadokun​”​, he recalled.

According to him, the team met
with the head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar and his Chief of Staff and
deputy, Commodore Mike Okhai Akhigbe with then Colonel Leo Ajiborisa, the staff
officer to the head of state, who took the minutes of the meeting​ ​which held
in the villa eight days after the death of General Abacha​.

​Opadokun stated that the team
told the head of state that the only way forward was for the acclaimed winner
of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, ​A​biola to be released from
detention and allowed to form a Government of National Unity (GNU) and
thereafter convoke a Sovereign National Conference (SNC).

“After the conclusion of the
meeting, we were driven straight from the villa to the airport”, he said.‎

Opadokun ​insisted that at no
time was he a member of a team of Yoruba leaders other than NADECO members who
met and discussed on the way forward with the Abubakar administration after the
death of General Sani Abacha.

Opadokun ​lamented that
​Al-Mustapha ​who should have been​
consigned to the dustbin of history because of the role he played in holding
the country hostage
​,​ was now being given cheap popularity which his spurious allegation was
meant to achieve in the media.